Apparatus for accumulating and transferring lubricant of an internal combustion engine sump

Abstract

An apparatus for remotely monitoring the level of lubricant in a sump of an internal combustion engine on a vehicle and remotely transferring lubricant from the engine sump including a lubricant tank mounted on the vehicle external to the vehicle's engine. The lubricant tank and the engine may each contain a quantity of gas above the respective lubricant levels in the tank and the sump with the pressure of gas contained in the lubricant tank being regulated relative to the pressure of gas contained in the engine such that the level of lubricant in the tank is indicative of and varies along with the level of lubricant in the engine sump. The apparatus may include an equalization connection between the sump and the tank and an evacuation connection to the tank for transferring lubricant from the tank. The tank may include a plurality of internal chambers situated for lubricant to flow between them to prevent lubricant from being drawn out of the sump below a lubricant low-level limit of the sump. The interior of the tank may include horizontally and vertically disposed baffles to reduce sloshing of lubricant in the tank.

We claim:  
     
         1 . An apparatus for remotely monitoring the level of lubricant in a sump of an internal combustion engine on a vehicle and remotely transferring lubricant from the engine sump, the apparatus comprising: 
 a lubricant tank mounted on a vehicle external to the engine for containing a quantity of lubricant and a quantity of gas above a level of lubricant in the lubricant tank;    an outlet port in the lubricant tank for removing lubricant from the lubricant tank;    a first fluid conduit connecting the lubricant tank and the engine sump for flow of lubricant between the lubricant tank and the engine sump;    the engine sump containing a quantity of lubricant and the engine containing a quantity of gas above a level of lubricant in the engine sump; and    with a pressure of the quantity of gas contained in the lubricant tank being regulated relative to a pressure of the quantity of gas contained in the engine such that the level of lubricant in the lubricant tank is indicative of and varies along with the level of the lubricant in the engine sump.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 an equalizing connection connecting the lubricant tank and the engine at points above their respective lubricant levels for regulating the gas pressure between the lubricant tank and the engine.  
 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the lubricant tank further comprising a draw down limit, the drawn down limit being no lower than a lubricant low-level limit of the engine sump to prevent lubricant within the engine sump from being drawn below the lubricant low-level limit of the engine sump when a quantity of lubricant is removed from the lubricant tank.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a valve in fluid communication with the outlet port for allowing a quantity of lubricant to be removed from the lubricant tank under the force of gravity.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a pump in fluid communication with the outlet port for removing a quantity of lubricant from the lubricant tank.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein the quantity of lubricant is removed to at least one of a lubricating circuit and a fuel circuit.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a level sensor disposed within the lubricant tank for detecting a level of the lubricant in the lubricant tank that corresponds to a level of the lubricant in the engine sump.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7  wherein the level sensor is a capacitance sensor.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 a dipstick disposed within the lubricant tank for detecting a level of the lubricant within the lubricant tank that corresponds to a level of the lubricant in the engine sump.  
 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 a baffle arrangement in the lubricant tank disposed at a lower end of the lubricant tank for stabilizing the level of lubricant therein against sloshing of the lubricant caused by vibration and movement of the lubricant tank.  
 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , the baffle arrangement comprising at least one cutout disposed in a first vertical partition that is horizontally offset from at least one cutout disposed in a second vertical partition spaced from the first partition.  
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1  where the engine and the lubricant tank are vented to atmospheric pressure to regulate the pressure of the quantity of gas contained in the lubricant tank relative to the pressure of the quantity of gas contained in the engine.  
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 a substantially horizontal plate disposed within the lubricant tank;  
 a first substantially vertical partition extending downwardly from the plate, the first vertical partition including a first plurality of cutouts along its longitudinal axis, each of the first plurality of cutouts being semicircular; and  
 a second substantially vertical partition extending downwardly from the plate and spaced apart from the first vertical partition, the second vertical partition including a second plurality of cutouts along its longitudinal axis, each of the second plurality of cutouts being semicircular, the first plurality of cutouts being horizontally offset from the second plurality of cutouts.  
 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the lubricant tank further comprises: 
 a first chamber for receiving lubricant from the engine sump through the first fluid conduit;  
 a second chamber for receiving lubricant from the first chamber; and  
 a second fluid connection connecting the first chamber and the second chamber to allow lubricant to flow from the first chamber to the second chamber.  
 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein at least a portion of a volume of the second chamber is disposed below a lubricant low-level limit of the engine sump.  
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , the second fluid connection comprising a first aperture formed within the lubricant tank, the first aperture being substantially level with a lubricant low-level limit of the engine sump so that lubricant will not flow through the second fluid connection when a level of lubricant in the engine sump is below the low-level limit of the engine sump.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 14  further comprising: 
 a partition separating the first chamber and the second chamber; and  
 the second fluid connection comprising a first aperture formed in the partition.  
 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , the second fluid connection further comprising: 
 a second aperture formed in a top portion of the second chamber, the second aperture being sized smaller than the first aperture; and    wherein the first aperture is formed in the partition above the second chamber to permit lubricant to cascade from the first chamber under the force of gravity as lubricant rises in the first chamber.    
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the evacuation connection is connected to the second chamber for transferring lubricant from the lubricant tank.  
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19  wherein the lubricant is transferred from the second chamber to at least one of a lubricating circuit and a fuel circuit.  
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 19  further comprising a pump for transferring the lubricant from the second chamber.  
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the first fluid conduit connecting the lubricant tank and the engine sump is connected to the engine sump at a level proximate a lubricant low-level limit of the engine sump.  
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 14  further comprising a level sensor for determining a level of lubricant in the lubricant tank.  
     
     
         24 . A vehicle comprising: 
 an engine comprising a lubricant circuit including a sump, the sump containing a quantity of lubricant and the engine containing a quantity of gas above a level of lubricant in the sump;    a tank mounted on the vehicle external to the engine for containing a quantity of lubricant and a quantity of gas above a level of the lubricant in the tank;    a first fluid conduit connecting the tank and the sump for allowing lubricant to flow there between;    an outlet port in the tank for removing lubricant from the tank; and    with a pressure of the quantity of gas in the tank being regulated relative to a pressure of the quantity of gas in the engine such that a the level of lubricant in the tank is indicative of and varies along the with level of lubricant in the sump.    
     
     
         25 . The vehicle of  claim 24  where the tank and the sump are vented to atmospheric pressure to regulate the pressure of the quantity of gas in the tank relative to the pressure of the quantity of gas in the engine.  
     
     
         26 . The vehicle of  claim 25  further comprising an equalizing connection connecting the tank and the engine at points above their respective lubricant levels for regulating the gas pressure between the tank and the engine.  
     
     
         27 . A method for controlling the amount of lubricant transferred from a lubricating circuit of an internal combustion engine, the method comprising: 
 providing a tank external to a sump of the internal combustion engine;    transferring a quantity of lubricant from the sump to the tank to equalize a level of lubricant in the tank with a level of lubricant in the sump; and    removing a quantity of lubricant from the tank.    
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27  further comprising: 
 affixing a set of baffles inside of the tank to reduce sloshing of lubricant within the tank.  
 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27  further comprising: 
 establishing a set of conditions for evacuating at least a portion of the quantity of lubricant from the tank; and  
 removing the at least a portion of the quantity of lubricant from the tank when the set of conditions are met.  
 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , the set of conditions comprising a measure of quality of the lubricant.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , the step of removing comprising removing the quantity of lubricant from the tank to at least one of a lubricating circuit and a fuel circuit.